ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Freeway Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels nearly went off without an incident of road rage, but in the final game of the four-game, home-and-home series, things got a little chippy before both teams parted ways to go forward with the rest of the season.

Clayton Kershaw struck out 12 over seven innings to earn his major-league-best 12th win, lifting the Dodgers to a 6-2 win Thursday night at Angel Stadium.

The win allowed the Dodgers to split the four games, each team winning one of two in its home ballpark.

Kershaw (12-2) posted his second-highest total strikeout total of the season, and he walked two while making 93 pitches. He gave up just three hits and an unearned run.

While Kershaw's influence seemed to keep the game relatively drama-free, things got interesting after he left.

The Angels had already scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to pull within 6-2, and they had runners on first and third with one out when Dodgers reliever Brandon Morrow hit Yunel Escobar on the left shoulder with a pitch.

Escobar said something and pointed to his own dugout before having words with Morrow, which resulted in the benches and bullpens emptying. After a few minutes, things calmed down, and the Angels' rally was snuffed out.

Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen got the final out of the eighth inning with the bases loaded before closing out the ninth for his 18th save.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn't seem to have a problem with Morrow's pitch, noting the situation at the time.

"(Escobar) felt they came inside, but it's a strange situation to hit somebody and bring the tying run to the plate, so it's tough to see what the intent was," Scioscia said. "But there's always chirping going on in the game, and no doubt they were trying to come inside, whether it was trying to get in on his swing or try to move him off the plate."

The "chirping" Scioscia spoke of might have had to do with Escobar acting annoyed as he went to first after Kershaw walked him for the second time in the game back in the sixth inning. However, Morrow said he knew nothing of it.

"The umpire mentioned maybe a minor interaction between him and Kersh earlier on a walk, but from the bullpen, we can't see that stuff," Morrow said. "Obviously, it wouldn't be a good situation to put somebody on base right there."

Kershaw laughed when asked about Escobar's reaction to being hit.

"I don't know, I get it, you're mad about being hit," Kershaw said. "But read the room a little bit, and realize we weren't trying to hit you. It's all right."

Kershaw got help from the Dodgers' offense, which smashed three home runs, including what was essentially a game-clinching, three-run blast by Joc Pederson in the sixth inning.

Yasiel Puig and Chase Utley each hit solo shots, and all three homers came off Angels starter JC Ramirez. The home runs increased the Dodgers' total to 50 in June, the most in a calendar month in franchise history.

"We've got guys with a ton of pop," Kershaw said. "Up and down the lineup, you saw Trayce (Thompson) last night, hitting ninth, hit a ball 500 feet. We've got guys that you can't really make a mistake to and think you're going to get away with a single. And knowing from experience, it's not fun, knowing that any mistake can leave the yard at any time."

Ramirez was not only knocked around figuratively by the Dodgers bats, but he also was literally knocked out of the game when a sixth-inning line drive by Puig struck him on the right hip.

Ramirez (7-6) gave up all six Dodgers runs (five earned) on seven hits and one walk in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three.

The only run the Angels scored against Kershaw came after a fourth-inning error by left fielder Thompson led to an RBI fielder's choice by Albert Pujols.

"He pitched really well, you're not going to get too many looks at him," Scioscia said of Kershaw. "He didn't make a lot of mistakes, and we didn't square too many balls up. Our club doesn't strike out very much, but I think we struck out 15 times tonight, which is odd for us."

NOTES: Dodgers SS Corey Seager returned to the starting lineup after missing five games with a sore right hamstring. He initially hurt the hamstring last Friday against the Rockies. Batting No. 2 in the order Thursday, Seager went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts before being replaced by INF Enrique Hernandez in the seventh inning. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Seager would not start Friday's game against San Diego in an effort to ease him back into the lineup. ... Angels SS Andrelton Simmons did not play, getting a day off for rest. He had started 81 of the Angels' 82 games at shortstop before Thursday. Simmons is hitting .316 (56-for-177) over his past 45 games, and his eight home runs are the second most he has hit in a season. He had 17 for Atlanta in 2014. INF Cliff Pennington started at shortstop and committed an error that led to a run.